BUFFALO BREWERS FESTIVAL

SATURDAY JUNE 24, 2017 – Outer Harbor, Buffalo NY

Head down to the water and celebrate craft beer in WNY! The festival features 40+ breweries, including all 20 local breweries, local farmers, chefs and food trucks.

There will also be two separate Meet-the-Brewers sessions!

Session One: Pairs five local brewers with cheeses from Reverie Creamery from Chautauqua County.

Session Two: Pairs local beers with chocolates from Chow Chocolate who has been featured at Dogfish Head and Brewery Ommegang.

While you’re there, check out the tents from NYS Craft Cider, Farm to Pint, Ontario Craft Brewers guest breweries, and more! The festival is from 4:00pm-7:00pm.

Tickets are available at all 17 Consumer’s Beverages Locations. Early-Bird special tickets are on-sale for $30.00 now through June 1st. Want an extra hour of fun? Grab an Early Admission ticket for $45.00 and you get in at 3:00pm!

A perfect way to spend a summer Saturday with some great beer and great fun! Get your tickets today!

American Craft Beer Week 2017

We are celebrating American Craft Beer week by bringing to light 5 classic American beer styles. First up, Steam Beer!
Steam beer dates back to California in the 1800’s where ice and refrigeration were at a minimum. Brewers originally tried using lager yeasts without ice and had to find alternative methods to cool their beer. Shallow, open fermenters were employed and would be positioned on rooftops, where the much cooler night air would help the beer cool, thus creating a ‘steam’. This visual is where this classic beer gets it’s name. The result is a rich, amber beer with a thick, creamy head and a clean finish. Also known, as the ‘California Common’, San Francisco brewery Anchor Brewing Co. trademarked the term ‘steam beer’ in 1981. Anchor Brewing still makes its Steam beer today!

Second up is American Wheat Beer! They were first introduced to America by German immigrants in the early 1900’s, American Wheat beers are an extension of their German cousins, using many of the same traditional ingredients. These beers were very popular amongst German communities, however the style lost much of its popularity due to prohibition and the subsequent era of lagers and pilsners that soon followed. Wheat beers re-emerged in America post-WWII after American soldiers re-discovered the style while drinking it in Germany during the war. Since then, Wheat beer popularity has steadily been on the rise. American Wheat beer is defined by bready malt flavors with an overall balance between sweet & bitter. It’s focus is more on yeast character rather than hops, frequently serving as a gateway beer to more intense and complex beer styles. Now traditionally filtered, this process gives the beer a crisp, clean look and a snappy finish. In today’s exploratory beer world, brewers have taken to adding fruit and other non traditional ingredients to their recipes such as Ellicottville Brewing Company’s Blueberry Wheat.

We continue our American Craft Beer series with a favorite… the American Pale Ale!
Hopped up American made Ales date back quite a few years before what we know today as the American Pale Ale style. The advent of the American Pale Ale style began in the mid 1970’s by Jack McAuliffe & his New Albion Brewing Company who began making their New Albion Ale in extremely small batches out of a garage in Sonoma, California. This beer was a hop-forward Pale Ale focused on the Cascade hop varietal, which originated in Oregon. It served as inspiration for many breweries to come, including The Sierra Nevada Brewing Company who began packing large quantities of American grown hops into their Pale Ale…now known as one of the defining examples of the style. American Pale Ales showcase hops in both an increased bitterness and aroma while retaining their sessionable qualities. Sierra Nevada has been making this best seller since 1981 and is quite possibly one of the most influential beers in modern history.

Amber Lagers are one of the hallmarks of the American Craft Beer revolution. One of the most well known craft breweries today was built on the style. Taking note of traditional German lager brewing techniques and brewing from a family recipe, Jim Koch, founder of Samuel Adams, released his first commercial batch of Boston Lager in 1985. Oh how that beer has grown…
Just a few years later, a little brewery in Cleveland named Great Lakes Brewing Company was getting started and began making their multi-award winning Amber Lager, Eliot Ness..named after one of Prohibition’s toughest agents. It combines a smooth body, toasted malt characters and a spicy hop nose. It has won 12 medals at the World Beer Championships between 1995 and 2010 and more importantly, the adoration of beer lovers everywhere. This is a do-all beer; able to squash the heat of spicy foods and accentuate the sweetness of rich desserts. A classic, for sure.

We’ve come quite a long way in the last 14 years as a nation of breweries. The style leader of the pack? IPA. Plain and simple, American IPA has had more impact on craft beer sales growth than any other style of beer on the planet. Our addiction to hops has pushed the envelope so far that IPA is often the first beer someone will ask for at a bar or in a beer store. “What’s a good IPA?” Well…that’s up to you to decide what’s good but we do have a couple offerings that have proved their worth, time and again. Ballast Point Sculpin has only been available in the WNY market for a handful of years but has been widely known as one of the world’s best since it’s beginning. Sculpin’s crisp, light body is a showcase for the bright, clean and citrusy side of hops; a west coast classic. Back east, Great Lakes Brewing Co’s Commodore Perry IPA dives into the [OG] British Style IPA with an American twist, featuring piney Simcoe hops against a dry, caramel malt body. These examples are just two of the thousands of IPA’s who have made their mark on people’s palates nation wide and who have turned us into the hop-centric nation known the world around.

MAY

We’re pleased to announce that our May Beer of the Month is none other than Ellicottville Brewing Company! This month when you buy (two) 6-pks of EBC beer, you’ll receive a $10 gift card to use at the Ellicottville brewery! So mix-and-match with all of their different varieties and then head down to the brewery and see where it’s made for yourself!

Starting May 5th, we’re going ‘back to the well’ for the Kentucky Derby. Run, trot, or gallop to your closest Consumer’s Growler Filling Station prior to this Saturday’s horse race (6:34pm). When you purchase any 64oz growler fill, we’ll print the name of a participating horse on your receipt. If your horse wins the Kentucky Derby, you win a FREE growler fill!

Mother’s Day is May 14th and Mom deserve the best. So why buy her a dozen roses that will wilt and die when you can buy her a dozen beers that she can share with you? Swing by, grab a 12pk, and share more than just your love this Mother’s Day.

During the entire month of May, stop into any Consumer’s Beverages to fill out an entry form for a chance to win a Weber Genesis grill courtesy of Budweiser. No purchase necessary! We’ll be picking the winner on May 31st!

Cinco de Mayo is upon us and Consumer’s Beverages has all of your fiesta beer in stock and ready to be enjoyed. Stop in to one of our 17 locations and make your Cinco de Mayo ‘muy bueno’. We’ve got a few of our favorites cervesas suggested below…

Please note that our Memorial Day store hours (Monday, May 29, 2017) will be 9:00am-7:00pm. Cheers!

CINCO DE MAYO BEER SUGGESTIONS

Corona Extra | Style: Lager | ABV: 4.6%
With a refreshing, smooth taste balanced between heavier European imports and lighter domestic beer, Corona is an even-keeled cerveza with fruity-honey aromas and a touch of malt. The flavor is crisp, clean and well balanced between hops and malt, a superior taste profile from superior ingredients—the finest-quality blend of filtered water, malted barley, hops, corn and yeast.

Corona Light | Style: Pilsner-Style Lager | ABV: 4.1%
Corona Light is a pilsner-style lager with a uniquely refreshing taste—brewed for outstanding light flavor with a crisp, clean finish. Its pleasant, fruity-honey aroma and distinctive hop flavor make it a favorite of those seeking a light beer that’s full of flavor. Corona Light’s naturally easy-drinking style makes it perfect for pairing with spicy and citrus-infused dishes.

Dos Equis | Style: Lager | ABV: 4.3%
A crisp, refreshing, light-bodied malt-flavored beer with a well-balanced finish. A lager that drinks like a pilsner. A liquid embodiment of living life to the fullest. A beverage made from pure spring water and the choicest hops. A beer with such good taste, it’s chosen you to drink it.

APRIL | 4.10.2017

Spring is here and with it comes great beer. We’re excited to announce that our April ‘Beer of the Month’ will be (drum-roll please)… Victory Brewing Company! Save on select 6pk and 12pk’s of Victory beer at your local Consumer’s Beverages.

This month we continue our April initiative of supporting Parkinson’s disease awareness. While shopping at any Consumer’s Beverages throughout the month of April, you will have the opportunity to donate $1 to the National Parkinson Foundation WNY. This is a cause that is dear to us and we hope you consider donating.
To learn more about NPFWNY, click here.

Muskoka Brewery (Ontario) is back and Consumer’s Beverages is the only place to get it! Try their Moonlight Kettle ‘Cool as Cuke’, Craft Lager, and/or Mad Tom IPA. Check out our tasting schedule to find out where you can try it before you buy it!

Through the month of April, when you buy a 12pk of Stella Artois you’ll receive a Stella Artois chalice ($9 value!) as well as a Stella Artois chocolate bar (1.25oz) while supplies last. Consider it our Easter gift to you!

Magic Hat’s ‘Choose Your Hefe’ 6pk has hit the shelves! Comprised of three bottles each of Circus Boy & Zircus Boy hefeweizen, buy a 6pk along with any other Magic Hat 6pk, 12pk, or growler, and you’ll receive a set of Magic Hat stone coasters while supplies last!

Keep scrolling to find some great Spring seasonal beers and important April drinking days!

Ballast Point Bonito | Style: Blonde Ale | ABV: 4.5%
An approachable beer, with some substance. This brew draws you in with its golden color and soft malt character, while the light mouth-feel and dry finish keeps you coming back.

Buffalo Bleu Beer: A story. | 4.1.2017

“Mmmmmmm……..?”

It was happy hour at Consumer’s Beverages. A bunch of us were sitting around enjoying wings and beers, and then it happened… After dunking his wing into an over-flowing cup of bleu cheese and watching it drip slowly from the wing into his lap, Consumer’s Beverages’ Director of Innovation Brad Menza had an epiphany. “I wish I could drink this! We’re going to revolutionize the cheesebeer industry!”

We all stared at each other in disbelief. A beer had been born.

Thus began a journey. From the heights of Mt. Everest to the depths of the Mariana Trench, we scoured the world in search of the finest aged bleu cheese. Aged, matured, spores a plenty….the more the better. We came back to Buffalo and brewed it to make the perfect experience of Buffalo in a glass. The end product is nothing short of pure magic. We’re proud to present to you… Buffalo Bleu Cheese Beer!

Buffalo Bleu Cheese Beer is a creamy, chunky, bacteria-filled beverage with hints of gorgonzola and roquefort.

It comes in at 7.16% ABV and pairs perfectly with pizza, wings, or your occasional Triscuit.

Buffalo Bleu Cheese Beer will be available in 6pks and 12pks. It will not be available in kegs as we find the chunks get stuck rather easily. Having a backyard barbeque or tailgate? Grab a case of Buffalo Bleu Beer Light. Just as good with half the calories!

*If you have gotten this far and haven’t rushed to your local Consumer’s yet to be utterly disappointed, we would like to wish you a Happy April Fool’s. We hope you enjoyed this as much as we did making it.

MARCH | 3.1.2017

We are excited to share with you all of the great things we have going on during the month of March.

To start off, the Beer of the Month has changed from Genesee Brew House to Flying Bison Brewing Co, which means save on select 6-packs and 12-packs during the month of March.

Get a FREE branded glass when you buy a 12-pack of Guinness, Harp, or Smithwick’s. (while supplies last) Also, when you buy a 6-pack of Samuel Adams Boston Ale (only) you will receive a FREE 16oz Sam Perfect pint glass! (while supplies last)

Oh and be sure to check out our FREE Beer Deals we having going on. They are always changing!

St. Patrick’s Day is just two weeks away! Do you know what you will be drinking? We have the best selection of beer here at Buffalo’s Beer Store and want to share with you some of our favorites. See below to see what we will be drinking for St. Patrick’s Day!

FLYING MONKEYS – The Chocolate Manifesto
Style: Milk Stout | ABV: 10.0%
Made with three kinds of chocolate, raw cacao nibs, cacao powder, and chocolate malt making this beer a euphoric detour from the mundane.

BROOKLYN BREWERY – Black Chocolate Stout
Style: Russian Imperial Stout | ABV: 10.0%
This stout is the toast of the winter season in many countries, and there is nothing better to enjoy with chocolate desserts, cheesecake, ice cream, fine cheeses and roaring fireplaces.

SAMUEL SMITH – Organic Chocolate Stout
Style: English Stout | ABV: 5.0%
Brewed with well water (the original well, sunk in 1758, is still in use with the hard water is drawn from 85 feet underground). It has a smooth and creamy character, with inviting deep flavors and a delightful finish.

LINDEMANS – Framboise
Style: Lambic Style – Fruit | ABV: 2.50%
Although this is not a chocolatey beer it blends well with Samuel Smith’s Organic Chocolate Stout creating a delicious chocolatey, raspberry sensation. By itself, this framboise is a clean natural tasting brew with undertones of fresh raspberries and a wonderful aroma.